An individual tied by the U.S. Attorney's office to the George Washington Bridge political scandal who is seeking to keep his name from being publicly disclosed lost his bid in an anonymous filing before a federal judge. The matter was immediately appealed.
NEWARK--A federal judge today denied efforts by an unnamed "John Doe" to keep the names of others tied to the Bridgegate scandal from being disclosed.
The matter was immediately appealed in advance of a Tuesday noon deadline requiring prosecutors to publicly release the list of "unindicted co-conspirators" involved in the politically-motivated 2013 George Washington Bridge lane shutdowns.
A consortium of news organizations--including NJ Advance Media--has been fighting in court to reveal the names--those who federal prosecutors said had conspired in the bridge scheme, or in the subsequent cover-up, but had not been charged.
That effort came in the wake of indictments brought by the U.S. Attorney's office last year against two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie, charging that they had used the bridge as a vehicle for political retribution with the intent to cause massive traffic tie-ups in Fort Lee to punish the Democratic mayor who had declined to endorse Christie for re-election.
In court documents filed in preparation for the trial of William Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, defense attorneys first learned there was a list of other individuals who allegedly played a role in the conspiracy, but had not been charged in the case.
U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton earlier this week agreed with the media organizations that the public had a right to know who the unindicted co-conspirators were, and ordered the release of the list by noon today. While unnamed, the judge had noted in court filings that all of those on the list were public employees, or elected or public officials.
But late Thursday, a lawyer for one of those still unnamed individuals filed an 11th hour request to stay the judge's order.
Attorney Jenny Kramer, a former federal prosecutor, argued that the release of her client's name "brands him as a criminal without due process of law."
The news media organizations argued Friday that the John Doe brief was "a frivolous and desperate attempt" to re-argue the case that has been before Wigenton since early this year. They also said John Doe's argument that he would be "branded a felon" by publication of the names was meritless.
"An unindicted co-conspirator is -- by definition -- not convicted or even charged with any crime," the news organizations' filing said. "Any individual named as an unindicted co-conspirator (whether a public employee or simply active in public affairs) is likely, as the court says, to be a public employee or official and will have 'ready access' to mass media communication to counter criticism."
In the brief by Bruce Rosen, of McCusker, Anselmi, Rosen & Carvelli, the lead attorney for the media organizations, Wigenton was also asked to impose sanctions on John Doe for taking legal action at the last minute.
Wigenton, who earlier in the day had agreed to temporarily delay the disclosure deadline until Tuesday next week, denied Kramer's request to stay the matter further. In her opinion, she said the unnamed individual did not attempt to intervene in the case until after it had already been decided.
"This court does not take the identification of unindicted co-conspirators lightly, recognizing the possible reputational consequences of such a revelation," she wrote. "However, here, this court has given Doe notice and an opportunity to be heard and has thoroughly considered his privacy interests."
With the clock now ticking again for release of the names on Tuesday, Kramer on Friday evening filed a notice of appeal with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the list from being made public.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.